AREASON TO RESCUE!!

[blueberry]

:)hi all,
I wanted to start a thread that would open a discussion on why we are rescuing and what we expect from our rescue horses.

A rescue is just that a rescue. If a horse you save can have a ridden purpose than that is a wonderful bonus and we have read some fantastic stories of how many rescue horses are turning out but to be good ridden horses.
This though may not always be the case so we have to be a little cautious not to have unreasonable expectations of our 'rescues'.

I know the ideal is that we may be able to ride them but there will sometimes be a degree of uncertainty.

When we rescued Sultan we stated that we would rescue the most needy horse, we then found out that we had bought an 18month percheron colt.
Sultan to a degree has defromed hind hooves due to
1. neglect of not being trimmed.
2. poor foot conformation

This is his only 'fault' and one, if we are not careful with remedial trrimming and building up work will cause him other problems in the future, ie:ligaments etc.
So he may have a 'ridden job'-possibly and that will be a bonus.
At the moment he is a wonderful companion horse due to his lovely nature and if that ends up his purpose in life then so be it, at least he has a life to be valued.

Everyone needs to assess their personal reason choosing to rescue a horse and decide wether it is right for them.

It is undoubtedly a wonderful and charitable thing to do.
For me i have gained the satisfaction of knowing i have made a difference to a horse's life and the reward i get from seeing him in the field 'playing' with his pals is imeasurable.

He will -thankfully- never know of his otherwise intended fate and never feel the pitiful misery of that journey to hell that his fellow equines have suffered before him and that is (personally) enough for me.

[iwillbuy]

well said blueberry
i never had any expectations from jupiter, right from me buying him i always expected the worse, which means everything has been a bonus
if he couldn,t of been ridden it wouldn,t made an ounce of difference
i knew my limitations i am not experienced enough for a foal or infoal mare, i am on a livery yard so no colts
i just looked at jupiters picture and knew it was right and with him being so big i thought alot of people wouldn,t be interested in him
cost, he costs a fortune to feed and time wise i have put alot of time into him, i would love to rescue more but time and finances will not allow it which i think is more heartbreaking, but i have a couple of friends who are now rescuing horses because of the word spread and more importantly lots of interest in the donkeys which i feel get overlooked a little
for me personally its hard to explain it is not self praising because i have rescued a horse but i now know how lucky i am to have jupiter

[sarahfox]

I agree with you 100% blueberry.
I dont want to ride mine anyway,so that has never been an issue for me,but I did make sure that all the rescuers that I was involved with totally accepted that they may be getting something that could never be more than a companion,if their horse was rideable then great,but like you say that is just a bonus.
The other thing that I have a real issue with is people buying them to breed.To my mind if a horse is destined for slaughter then what is the point of breeding more of the same?

[gem]

I also agree, I just ended up taking the one that was left and in many ways this was fine for me as I never really minded about riding her or doing stuff with her. In truth Id have struggled without sarah because Guineas was such a difficult mare as she was frightened, and I didnt have the facilities to help her - She is turning out to be a super little person; whether she will ever be ridden I dont know and dont really care - Id like her to be a nice RDA pony but I doubt we will reach this point.

I dont care, shes happy and healthy and thats all that we can hope for at the moment

[rosetila]

I just wish for mine to be healthy and comfortable/content. I do not expect anything from them, I only wish to give them time, love and attention that they've never had and of course to be in the same home forever with a good solid routine.

[dobsie]

Great thread Blueberry - we had no expectations of our rescue Noisette (pregnant Breton mare) or of our baby donk. Like others, watching them is satisfaction enough. Anything else will be a wonderful bonus.
I agree with Sarah too about breeding from these horses (beyond what they are already carrying) - we don't want to add more horses to the slaughter queue.

[gem]

Do you know the only thing I want from my pony is that she doesnt fear me, thats reward enough!

[sarahfox]

Shes nearly there gem!!
the look in her eye is amazing now when she turns towards me.

[gem]

she loves you I just hope she can love me too

[melissa]

oh no...this thread is bringing tears to my eyes! stop it!!

[sarahfox]

of course she will gem,once you get the chance to spend time with her she wont take long atall now.Better get some more pics too so we can make melissa cry again!